Peanut Butter And Ketchup Cookies
by Ginny-Rose95
Summary: "I just wanted to try something new, you know. Life is short and if you don't try anything you don't like, or don't think you'd enjoy, what's the point right? Right?" Ranger catches Stephanie in the kitchen for unknown reasons.


I wrote this last night in lieu of a recipe on the back of a ketchup bottle that addressed peanut butter cookies that I tried. I couldn't help but think of this, so I wrote it. It's really short, more of a drabble but I hope you like it.

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><p>Ranger was surprised when he entered his apartment to hear soft crashes and bangs coming for the kitchen. Ella wasn't working today and if she was, she wouldn't be making such loud noises, which left only one person in the whole apartment that could possibly be in the kitchen. He hurriedly went into the kitchen, not even bothering to take off his gun belt as he did so. Stephanie was just slipping something in the oven when he walked in, completely oblivious to him.<p>

"Babe?" Stephanie jumped a few feet in the air before turning to him, one hand over her heart. She looked scared or even just worried but Ranger chalked it off to the fact that he wasn't supposed to be home for another hour.

"Jesus Christ Ranger!" she yelled at him, "you need a bell on you to stop scaring the hell out of people!" Ranger cocked one eyebrow at her, surprised at her angry tone. She was definitely acting suspicious. He took a step towards her and wrapped a hand on her arm, looking straight at her eyes. There were times that she would be hurt from a skip and wouldn't tell him, instead braving a smile and refusing to show the pain. It would always be in her eyes though, her eyes couldn't hide anything.

There was something in there, not pain, a little guilt, some worry though and he wondered if Morelli visited again. She would never tell him, but he knew when Morelli visited. He knew they never did anything; he trusted her more than that, but she always felt guilty, as if she were stringing on her ex, whenever he came to call. "What are you cooking babe?" he pulled her close, telling himself if something happened, she would tell him. And if that something involved Morelli, he would kill him.

"Cookies!" she told him cheerfully. Ranger's eyes trailed the counters. They were a mess of flour and egg and other ingredients, the most noticeable being ketchup and peanut butter.

"There's ketchup babe."

"Yep! They are ketchup and peanut butter," Ranger looked at her pointedly.

"That stuff will kill you babe," Stephanie puffed her bottom lip out, the look she got when Ranger had said something that annoyed her more than usual.

"Nuh-uh, ketchup's practically a vegetable and peanut butter is full of protein and stuff." Ranger looked at her incredulously. She blushed. "I just wanted to try something new, you know. Life is short and if you don't try anything you don't like, or don't think you'd enjoy, what's the point right? Right?" Stephanie was acting a little strange, and Ranger held her close.

"Is something wrong babe," her blue eyes filled with sudden tears just as the timer went off for her cookies. She detangled herself from him quickly, brushing the tears away as she went to the cookies. Ranger watched as she pulled it out; they were darker than they probably should have been and by the dismayed sound that escaped Stephanie's throat he knew they were burnt.

"Babe," he wrapped his arms around her again as she slammed the cookies onto the stove, "What's going on?"

"I can't do anything right, that's what's wrong! I can't even bake cookies, how am I going to be a mother!" she screamed. Ranger's arms slackened slightly as he stared at her in shock. What did that mean, what was she going on about motherhood for? Stephanie seemed to realize what she said, because she once again pulled herself away from him. "Forget I said that. I didn't say anything."

"Babe." Ranger stated, holding her arms to keep her from leaving. "Are you pregnant?" her eyes were wide, fearful. He realized then, why she was so off-kilter. It wasn't Morelli visiting her or anything; she'd gone to the doctor's today on his insistence. She had been sick lately, puking and feeling sore and he had set an appointment with a discreet doctor he knew. He cursed himself for not realizing the signs; Julie's mother had the same ones. Then he cursed himself for those stupid statements; telling her he never wanted children was a mistake and now she was afraid to even tell him she was with his child.

Deftly, he grabbed one of the slightly burnt ketchup-peanut butter cookies off the pan, and after making sure Stephanie was watching him, took a large bite. The cookie was still warm, a little dry but with no taste of the ketchup, actually it wasn't all that bad, especially for Stephanie's cookies. "Sometimes," he told her, "you find out you like things you never thought you would," he held the cookie to her lips and she carefully took a bite. "And sometimes," he continued, taking another slow bite of the cookie, "you find that things aren't always that great the first time, but wonderful the second time."

He smiled as her eyes lit up, "you mean-" he broke off her words with a soft, penetrating kiss on her lips, arms pulling her taunt against him.

"Let's have a kid babe," he whispered to her lips, smiling slightly at the way her eyes light up so excitedly, one dark skinned hand resting lightly on her stomach as he kissed her again.

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><p>Liked it? Hated it? I thought it was a cute little one-shot and figured it was kind of going in order of the stories I've posted, although none of them are from the same universe or anything. P.S. the peanut butter-ketchup cookies aren't bad. Seriously.<p> 


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